Dungloe

There is a river at the bottom of the town and years ago the only crossing was over a grey granite slab lying in the riverbed, hence the Irish name of the town, An Clochán Liath, which means the grey stepping-stone. The bridge was built in 1782.{{Cite web|title=An Clochán Liath/Dunglow|url=https://www.logainm.ie/en/14628|website=Logainm.ie|language=en|access-date=2020-05-08}}

File:Dungloe library - geograph.org.uk - 500539.jpg

The name An Clochán Liath was formerly anglicised as Cloghanlea. The name Dungloe or Dunglow is believed to come from the Irish Dún gCloiche. This name came into common English usage in the later years of the 18th century when the monthly fair, formerly held at Dún gCloiche (five miles north of the nascent town), was transferred to An Clochán Liath. In time the name of the fair and that of the town were subsumed. Today, An Clochán Liath is the only officially recognised name of the town.

The Comprehensive Linguistic Survey of the Gaeltacht (revised) found that only 21.4% of the population of the area spoke Irish on a daily basis.

Despite being officially within the Gaeltacht, Irish is not the everyday language of the majority of residents. Just over one-fifth of the population are daily Irish speakers.{{Cite web |title=002910_Udaras_Nuashonrú_FULL_report_A4_FA.pdf |url=https://udaras.ie/media/pdf/002910_Udaras_Nuashonr%C3%BA_FULL_report_A4_FA.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200106054159/https://udaras.ie/media/pdf/002910_Udaras_Nuashonr%C3%BA_FULL_report_A4_FA.pdf |archive-date=2020-01-06 |access-date=2024-03-21 |website=udaras.ie}} Nevertheless, there are Irish-speaking areas outside the town and Irish is to be heard regularly in the town.[http://www.dun-na-ngall.com/dungloe.html Dungloe / An Clochán Liath] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110510160636/http://www.dun-na-ngall.com/dungloe.html |date=10 May 2011 }} on www.dun-na-ngall.com

Dungloe is home to the Dungloe District Court, which covers the west and south-west areas of County Donegal. The local council offices are situated in the Public Services Centre on the Gweedore Road, including an Intreo centre, Citizens Information centre and Donegal County Council office.{{Cite web |date=2019-12-03 |title=Dungloe Intreo Centre |url=https://www.gov.ie/en/directory/page/56b0e6-intreo-centre-dungloe/ |access-date=2024-04-03 |website=www.gov.ie |language=en}}{{Cite web |last= |title=Dungloe Citizens Information Centre |url=https://centres.citizensinformation.ie/centre.php?cic=Dungloe+CIC |access-date=2024-04-03 |website=citizensinformation.ie |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Donegal County Council |url=https://www.donegalcoco.ie/services/contactus/ |access-date=2024-04-03 |website=www.donegalcoco.ie |quote=Public Service Centres ... Bóthar Ghaoth Dobhair, An Clochán Liath, Co. Donegal, F94 H4CF}}

There is a Garda station,{{Cite web |title=An Clochán Liath (Dungloe) |url=https://www.garda.ie/en/contact-us/station-directory/an-clochan-liath-dungloe-.html |access-date=2024-03-21 |website=Garda.ie |language=en}} Donegal County Council office,{{Cite web |title=Draft CDP Newspaper Notice.pdf |url=https://consult.donegal.ie/en/system/files/materials/419/Draft%20CDP%20Newspaper%20Notice.pdf |access-date=2024-03-21 |website=consult.donegal.ie |format=PDF |quote=An Clochán Liath (Dungloe) Public Services Centre, Gweedore Road, An Clochán Liath.}} and a fire station,{{Cite web |title=List of Fire Stations in Donegal |url=https://www.donegalcoco.ie/services/fireservice/firestations/ |access-date=2024-03-21 |website=www.donegalcoco.ie |quote=DL22 - Dungloe Fire Station - 54.953630, -8.359937}} located on the Main Street. Also, there are several convenience stores, supermarkets, cafes, pubs and restaurants. The town is the headquarters of The Rosses' indigenous supermarket chain, The Cope.{{Cite web |last= |title=ABOUT US — The Cope |url=https://www.thecope.ie/pages/about-us-1 |access-date=2024-03-21 |website=The Cope |language=en |quote=Operating from the town of Dungloe we operate: Hardware & Homeware, Menswear, Sports, Ladieswear, Furniture & Flooring, An Club Beag Play Area,IT Sales & Services, Home Improvement / Builders Providers and Agricultural Supplies.}}

File:Cope dungloe.png in Dungloe in 2024.]]

File:Dungloe Hospital 2024.jpg

The Dungloe Community Hospital campus also contains a hospital,{{Cite web |last=Maguire |first=Stephen |date=2014-04-03 |title=BEDS TO RE-OPEN AND REFURBISHMENT ALMOST COMPLETED AT DUNGLOE COMMUNITY HOSPITAL |url=https://www.donegaldaily.com/2014/04/03/beds-to-re-open-and-refurbishment-almost-completed-at-dungloe-community-hospital/ |access-date=2024-03-21 |website=Donegal Daily |language=en-US}} mental health services{{Cite web |title=Mental Health Services - HSE.ie |url=https://www.hse.ie/eng/services/list/1/lho/donegal/mental-health-services/mental-health-services-in-donegal.html |access-date=2024-03-21 |website=HSE.ie |language=en |quote=Worklink Dungloe, Caravan Rd, Dungloe...Community Mental Health Services North West Sector HQ, Hospital Campus Dungloe...Dungloe Day Centre, Psychiatric Unit, Dungloe}} and a day centre for the elderly.{{Cite web |title=Older People Services |url=https://www.hse.ie/eng/services/list/1/lho/donegal/older-people-services/services-for-older-people-in-donegal.html |access-date=2024-03-21 |website=HSE.ie |language=en |quote=Dungloe Community Hospital, Dungloe}}

A visitor centre to Daniel O'Donnell was opened in 2012 in the town's former National Irish Bank building.{{Cite web |title=Daniel O'Donnell Visitor Centre |url=https://www.rte.ie/archives/2017/0506/872427-daniel-odonnell-visitor-centre/ |access-date=2024-04-03 |website=RTÉ Archives |language=en |quote=Dungloe in County Donegal is thronged with Daniel O’Donnell fans for the official opening of a new visitor centre dedicated to the singer. Over a thousand people from Ireland and abroad turned up for a first look at the centre to which Daniel donated all his memorabilia in the hope it would give an economic boost to the town. Daniel was there to officially open the new facility, seeing it as a great honour and an opportunity for Dungloe. He also performed for the fans on the street in Dungloe.}}{{Cite news |date=2015-07-18 |title=Desperately seeking Daniel: Ivan Little visits the Daniel O'Donnell Visitor Centre |url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/life/features/desperately-seeking-daniel-ivan-little-visits-the-daniel-odonnell-visitor-centre/31385099.html |access-date=2024-04-03 |work=BelfastTelegraph.co.uk |language=en-GB |issn=0307-1235 |quote=In the end, at the end of Dungloe's Main - and some would say only - Street, the massive poster of a grinning, but strangely orange-looking, Daniel O'Donnell on the wall of the old National Irish Bank building was clearer than any road sign that I'd found the visitor centre developed in his honour.}} The visitor centre closed in 2019.{{Cite web |last=Maguire |first=Stephen |date=2019-04-29 |title=Breaking: Shock at closure of Daniel O'Donnell Visitor Centre |url=https://www.donegaldaily.com/2019/04/29/breaking-shock-at-closure-of-daniel-odonnell-visitor-centre/ |access-date=2024-04-03 |website=Donegal Daily |language=en-US}} File:"Wee_Daniel's"_Visitor_Centre,_An_Clochán_Liath_-_Dungloe_-_geograph.org.uk_-_3228865.jpg

Image:Anclochanliath.JPG

The town attracts tourists during July and August when the annual Mary From Dungloe International Festival takes place.{{Cite web |title=Mary From Dungloe International Arts Festival |url=https://maryfromdungloe.ie/ |access-date=2024-03-21 |website=maryfromdungloe.ie |language=en-US |quote=The Mary From Dungloe International Arts Festival is a community based festival which has been held annually since 1967 in Dungloe, County Donegal.}} It was founded in the 1960s and it has attracted 'special guests' over the years including Daniel O'Donnell, Cliff Richard, Gay Byrne and Sharon Shannon.{{citation needed|date=January 2020}} Dungloe Bay and its surrounding hills have also attracted tourists to Dungloe.{{citation needed|date=January 2020}} There is also a festival dedicated to the socialist writer Peadar O'Donnell in Dungloe each autumn.{{Cite web |title=Dungloe weekend to celebrate life and times of late Peadar O'Donnell |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/dungloe-weekend-to-celebrate-life-and-times-of-late-peadar-o-donnell-1.332868 |access-date=2024-03-21 |website=The Irish Times |language=en |quote=Bernadette McAliskey will be among the speakers at this weekend's celebration of the life and times of Peadar O'Donnell in Dungloe}}{{Cite web |last=Maguire |first=Stephen |date=2014-10-16 |title=LARGE CROWD EXPECTED FOR PEADAR O'DONNELL WEEKEND IN DUNGLOE |url=https://www.donegaldaily.com/2014/10/16/large-crowd-expected-for-peadar-odonnell-weekend-in-dungloe/ |access-date=2024-03-21 |website=Donegal Daily |language=en-US}} A little to the north of the town is the site of the ancient church of Templecrone.{{Cite web |title=Maghery - History and Heritage |url=https://maghery.ie/history/ |access-date=2024-03-21 |website=Maghery |language=en-US |quote=Templecrone Church - Built on the site of the ancient monastic site of St. Crone, the ruins of Templecrone date to around 1200AD.}}

File:Dungloe RC Church - geograph.org.uk - 501526.jpg Church, usually known locally as 'the Chapel'.]]

The town is serviced by a regional Bus Éireann route {{Cite web |title=Bus Éireann Timetable Route 492, Donegal - Glenties - Dungloe - Bus Éireann - View Ireland Bus and Coach Timetables & Buy Tickets |url=https://buseireann.ie/inner.php?id=406&form-view-timetables-from=Dublin+(Busaras)&form-view-timetables-to=Donegal+(Abbey+Hotel)&form-view-timetables-route=492&form-view-timetables-submit=1 |access-date=2023-08-16 |website=buseireann.ie}} and several TFI Local Link routes,{{Cite web |title=117431 SITT TT Burtonport to Letterkenny 4pg DL |url=https://locallinkdsl.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/271-Burtonport-to-Letterkenny-Nov-2021.pdf |access-date=2024-03-21 |website=locallinkdsl.ie |format=PDF}}{{Cite web |title=992-Crolly-to-Dungloe.jpg |url=https://locallinkdsl.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/992-Crolly-to-Dungloe.jpg |access-date=2024-03-21 |website=locallinkdsl.ie |format=JPG}} as well as a number of private bus companies, both of which provide a link to national Bus Éireann routes through Donegal Town and Letterkenny, and to the north of the county and Derry also.

In 1903, the town was linked, through Dungloe railway station, to the Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway.{{Cite web |title=Irish_railways.pdf |url=https://www.railscot.co.uk/Ireland/Irish_railways.pdf |access-date=2024-03-21 |website=railscot.co.uk |format=PDF |quote=[Opened] 09.03.1903}} However, the station was closed on 3 June 1940 as part of a process that saw the closure of all railways in the county.{{cite web | title=Dungloe station | work=Railscot – Irish Railways | url=http://www.railscot.co.uk/Ireland/Irish_railways.pdf |format=PDF| access-date=5 September 2007}} The company continued to provide coach services to the town via the Lough Swilly Bus Company in the aftermath of the closure of the railways, however this ended in April 2014.{{Cite web |date=2014-04-16 |title=Donegal Now - Lough Swilly bus company to cease trading this weekend – according to a Trade Union |url=http://www.donegalnow.com/sp/article_manager/detail/lough_swilly_bus_company_to_cease_trading_this_weekend__according_to_a_trade_union |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140418234119/http://www.donegalnow.com/sp/article_manager/detail/lough_swilly_bus_company_to_cease_trading_this_weekend__according_to_a_trade_union |archive-date=2014-04-18 |access-date=2024-03-21 |website=donegalnow.com}}

File:St Crone's Church of Ireland, Dungloe - geograph.org.uk - 500587.jpg Church.]]

By the standards of a rural Gaeltacht area, Dungloe has a significant Protestant minority, many of whom are Presbyterian. This is a result of the Plantation of Ulster in the seventeenth century. However, the town has a large Catholic majority.{{Cite web |title=Interactive Data Visualisations {{!}} CSO Ireland |url=https://visual.cso.ie/?body=entity/ima/cop/2022&boundary=C04160V04929&guid=5fd0e3d3-9137-4f71-9662-c5e6f3d5114b&theme=1 |access-date=2024-03-21 |website=visual.cso.ie}}

Dungloe is mentioned in FX series Sons of Anarchy as the source of the motorcycle club's weapons from the True IRA, a fictional representation of the Real IRA.{{Cite web |title='Sons of Anarchy' Deaths: Season 1 |url=https://ew.com/gallery/sons-anarchy-deaths-season-1/ |access-date=2024-03-21 |website=EW.com |language=en |quote=She ultimately searched the clubhouse, and while Jax managed to get the guns out in time via a sewage truck, she found oil barrels labeled as coming from Dungloe, Ireland — a known True IRA territory — and now guessed they were used to smuggle in the weapons.}}

The song Mary from Dungloe by Emmet Spiceland.{{Cite web |title=Emmett Spiceland |url=https://www.irish-showbands.com/Bands/emmetspicelandf.htm |access-date=2024-03-21 |website=www.irish-showbands.com |quote=The Wexford success led to a recording deal and in February of 1968 their Mary from Dungloe topped the Irish singles chart.}}

{{See also|Category:People from Dungloe}}

• Tony Boyle (born 1970) – All-Ireland winning Gaelic footballer
• Alexander Campbell (1833–1877) – American businessman
• Paddy "the Cope" Gallagher (1871–1966) – businessman
• John O'Donnell (1910–1954) – Gaelic footballer
• Peadar O'Donnell (1893–1986) – republican Marxist
• Adrian Sweeney (born 1976) – All-Star Gaelic footballer
• Goats Don't Shave, Irish folk group

• List of towns and villages in the Republic of Ireland
• List of towns and villages in Northern Ireland

{{reflist}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20131006183717/http://www.ahg.gov.ie/ie/Straiteis20BliaindonGhaeilge/Foilseachain/Staid%C3%A9ar%20Cuimsitheach%20Teangeola%C3%ADoch%20ar%20%C3%9As%C3%A1id%20na%20Gaeilge%20sa%20Ghaeltacht%20%28achoimre%29.pdf Dungloe population stats 2006]

{{County Donegal}}

Category:Gaeltacht places in County Donegal

Category:Gaeltacht towns and villages

Category:The Rosses

Category:Towns and villages in County Donegal